Canta la Perdiz ('Song of the Partridge') is one of those wines that is hard not to sound hyperbolic about. It's the pinnacle of the work of Jorge Monzon, not just at Dominio del Aguila, but through the many lessons learned across great domains of France and Spain, culminating in a year that plays to the elegance and fine, long-lived style of Ribera he chases. But rather than reach for my own flowery adjectives, after all, I am the importer, I have already drunk the Kool-Aid, so it's hardly surprising that my descriptions are rapturous! Below is the commentary from Luis Gutierrez in the Wine Advocate where this vintage received the perfect, 100 point score.
Dominio del Águila releases some of their wines later than others, so their top wine this time was from the 2016 vintage, which in a way has things in common with 2018, as it was also cooler, wetter and challenging. But it’s in those vintages where growers have to show what they can do, and their single-vineyard red 2016 Canta la Perdiz is a prime example. It’s their rarest and finest bottling, and it comes from a one of the oldest plots in the village of La Aguilera found at 890 meters in altitude on sand and limestone soils. That gives the wine a special personality and a chalky texture, and the 2016 is one of the finest wines they have produced at this domain; it’s among the greatest in Ribera del Duero, in Spain and in the world. It’s fine, crystalline and full of Ribera character, serious but with a hedonist side... Getting a three-digit score is often a process of continuous improvement in the vineyard and winery until, in a given vintage, all the stars seem to align, and the hundreds or thousands of small decisions that need to be taken in the year all seem to be right. I’ve seen that happening in some wineries, where you know it’s a matter of time until they do it. This time, it has been Dominio del Águila, which comes from a short history of extremely high-quality and characterful wines
"I was really looking forward to the single-vineyard red 2016 Canta la Perdiz, their rarest and finest bottling. It comes from a one of the oldest plots in the village of La Aguilera found at 890 meters in altitude on sand and limestone soils that give it a special personality and a chalky texture. The full clusters fermented with indigenous yeasts in concrete vats, and the wine went through seven months of a slow malolactic fermentation in oak barrels, where it completed an élevage of 31 months. The wine delivers what I was expecting, incredible finesse and elegance while filling your mouth. It is nuanced, perfumed and with a crystalline personality, with light and energy. It has very fine, chalky tannins that give it a velvety texture. It has incredible length. It's a world-class red that should develop for a very long time in bottle but also drink well throughout its life, even as young as now. This is one of the finest wines they have produced at this domaine, among the greatest in Ribera del Duero, fine, crystalline and full of Ribera character, serious but with a hedonist side. 1,789 bottles and 50 magnums were filled in May 2019."
